Combined jamb and buffer foe automobile doors



Oct. 30, 1923.

Filed April 8, 1920 Patented Oct. 30, 1923 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

MARTIN r. CODY, Jenn GRAY, arm Kznesron FORBES, or FLINT, MICHIGAN, es- SIGNORS T GENERAL Morons oonronn'rron, or DETROIT, ivrrorneim, A con- PORATION OF DELAWARE.

COMBINED JAMIE AND BUFFER FOR AUTQMOBILE DOORS.

Application filed April 8,

To all whom it may (ON/067%.

Be it known that we, MARriN T. CoDY, JOHN GRAY, and KINGSTON Forums, all citizens of the United States, and residents of Flint, county of Genesee, and State ofMichigan, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Combined Jambs and Buffers for Automobile Doors, of which the following is a full, clear, concise, and exact description, such as will enable others skilled in the art to which the invention relatesto make and use the same, reference being made therein to the accompanying drawings, which form a part of this specification.

Our invention relates to doors, and particularly to doors used in connection with the bodies of automobiles and similar vehicles; and the principal object of our invention is to provide an improved door jainb construction for use with automobiles and similar vehicles the purpose of which is to form a stop for the door and to cushion the same at the end of its closing movement; to prevent noise due to slamming, and possible injuryto the door. 7

A further object of our invention is to provide an improved unitary or single piece door jamb member adapted to be secured to an upright door post of the body of a motor vehicle and which jamb is provided with yieldable buffers for cushioning the closing of the door; the jamb, the buffers and other elements associated therewith forming a single unitary structure which may be readily attached to the door post.

A further object of our invention is to provide an improved janib member for use with door posts of automobiles and in which the buffers for cushioning the closing movement of the door, as well as a holding abutment with which'the latch or bolt of the lock whereby the door is held closed, are provided in, a single unitary j amb member; so that all the, elements concerned with the arresting of the closing movement of the door and the cushioning of the door at the end of its closing movement, as well as with the holding of the door in its closed condition are combined in the single jamb memher in which our invention consists, so that no independent adjustment of said members is-necessary in installing the jamb member as all of them assume their proper place 1920. Serial No. 372,240.

when said jamb member is secured in place to the door post.

With the above and other objects of inhereinafter described and claimed; and in such variations and modification thereof, within the scope of the concluding claims, as will be obvious to those skilled in the art to which our invention relates.

In the drawing wherein the preferred embodiment of our invention is illustrated igure 1 is a view showing our improved jamb strip for vehicle doors separate and by itself, and as seen from a position at the inside of the same, or from the open side thereof which is next to the door post when the jamb is in use.

Figure 2 is a view showing the upper end of our improved jamb member in side elevation.

Figure 3 is a view showing the upper end of said member in perspective, and as seen looking into the open inner side of said member.

Figure 1 is a view showing a section upon a'considerably larger scale and upon a transverse plane indicated by the line 4-4, Figure 1, and with a. resilient buffer in place.

Figure 5 is a similar view showing a section upon a transverse plane indicated by the line Figure 1.

Figure 6 is a similar view showinga section upon a transverse plane indicated by the line 66, Figure 1.

I Figure 7 is a similar view showing a section upon a transverse plane indicated by the line 7-7, Figure 1, all the planes above re ferred to being horizontal planes, when the jamb member is in place in and secured to adoor post of avehicle body.

Figure 8 is a view-showing one of several guide members used in connection with our improved jamb member.

Figure 9 is a fragmentary view showing certain features of the holding abutment vwith which the belt of the door lock cooperates to hold the doorclosed.

Referring now to the drawing, our improved jamb member is illustrated as, made from a strip of sheet metal bent and pressed into proper form, and suitably shaped to impart thereto a general hollow trough-like or channel form, as best shown in Figures 1 and 3; said amb member in its finished form having an exposed top wall 10, and side walls 11, 12 extending therefrom, the open side of the channel-shaped jamb member being next to the door post to which it is secured and such a door post being indicated in a conventional manner by the reference numeral 29.

The amb member as a whole occupies an upright position on the door post and is of a length approximating that of the vertical dimension of the door with which it is used and the same is secured to the door post by means of a plurality of fastening screws extending through holes 13 provided in the outer wall or face of said jamb member, one of which screws in shown in Figure 7 and as many such screws being employed as may be deemed necessary or desirable. Suitable guide members or clips 14, one of which is shown in 1 )erspective in Figure 3, are preferably located within the channel of the jamb member, as shown in Figures 1 and 3,the inner portions or walls of said members lying approxin'iately in the plane of the open side of the jan'ib member to thereby provide guides for the fastening screws whereby the strip is secured to the door post adjacent the open. inner side of the jamb strip and at a distance from the head of the screw in each case; the purpose of the. said guide members being obviously to'more definitely position the jamb member as a whole relative to the door post to which it is secured and such guide members being used in connection with all the fastening screws .or with a part only of them as may be deemed necessary or desirable.

Portions of the side wall 11 of the jamb' member toward which the free edge of the door 15 moves as the said door is closed are out free from the top wall 10 and from one another, and bent inward into the interior of the jamb member, as shown at 16, to thereby provide a plurality of recesses or pockets 17 within the said jamb member and within which recesses or pockets suitable resilient buffers indicated by the reference numeral 18 are located and held in place; the inner ends of said buffers abutting against the far side wall 1 and said buffers being secured in place each by a screw 19 which extends'through a countersunk hole in the end wall 10 of the jamb member, through a hole provided in the buffer in question, and the inner threaded end of which screw engages a nut or clamping plate 20 resting upon the inner surface the buffer and disposed adjacent the surface of the door post to which the jainb member is secured. It therefore follows that the biiiffers may be tightened while they remain in place within the recesses provided for their reception by rotating screws 19 and drawing the plates 20 toward the front outer wall of the jamb member, thus expanding the buffer slightly as it is worn away in use and providing means for keeping the same properly tightened and adjusted and in place throughout the life thereof, while a wornout buffer may be readily removed after having first removed the screw 19 and a new one substituted therefor.

A recess preferably semi-circular in form as indicated at 21 is also provided in the jainb member into which a projection 22 upon the free edge of the door 15 enters, and the purpose of which projection to position the door vertically as thesamc moves into its closed position, thereby preventing vertical movement or sagging of the front edge of the door when the same is closed.

A. suitable recess is preferably provided in the jamb member within which the end of a reciprocating belt or latch member carried by the door lies when the door is closed, said recess being provided by cutting por tions of the side wall 11 free from the top wall 10 and from one another, and bending them inward, as indicated at 24 to provide the top and bottom walls of the boltsocket or recess; and by cuttingthe portion of the top wall 10 between the said bent in pertions 24 free and bending the portion 25 thus out free inward and causing itto assume an inclined position within the'said jamb member, as shown in Figure 5, with which portion the rounded face of the bolt 23 conforms when the: door is closed.

The front or retaining portion of the bolt recess is provided by a separate holding member or abutment formed preferably from a single blank having portions which may be bent to provide the inclined forward face 26 up which the end of the locking bolt 23 may slide as the door is closed, and a flat portion 27 with which the flat fare of said bolt engages when the door is closed; the said blank having also'lateral projections 28, see Figures 1 and 9, which lie in substantially the plane of the inner free edges of the side members 11, 12 of the jamb member and beneath the side walls 24- of the bolt recess and which projections 28 extend into the interior of the said jamb member; the said portion thus forming guides for adjacent screws which hold the jamb member to the door post, the same the guide members 14 above referred to, which construction of abutment for the door locking bolt provides an extremely strong construction adjacent the lock, which is obviously a de sirable feature in door construction.

The guide members 14 as well also as the latch retaining member made up of the elements 26, 27 and 28 are commonly brazed,

spot welded or otherwise permanently cured to the main channel shaped body of the jamb strip to thereby provide a single unitary structure with which the butters are assembled as hereinbei ore our ained.

In view of the premises it will be appreciated that our invention provides a single unitary jain'b i'i'iember with which the buffers used for cushioning the closing movement of the deer are assembled, and provides a member which may be attached to and detached from the door post 01- the vehicle as a single element; thus materially reducing the time necessary to hang the door and to so adjust it as to secure a proper closing thereof, as all that is necessary is to put the jamb member in proper position upon the door post and secure it thereto by the proper number of holding-on screws extending through the same and into the door post. Such jamb member is also provided with the necessary recess for receiving the projecting end of the locking bolt which holds the door closed, so that the plac'ng of the jamb member in position also provides the requisite recess into which the end of the locking bolt of the door lock extends to thereby hold the door in a closed position.

Having thus described and explained our invention, we claim and desire to secure by Letters Patent:

1. In a vehicle door of the class described and in combination with a door post, a unitary jamb member secured to said door post and toward which the free edge of the door moves as the same is closed; and a yieldable buffer secured to said jamb member and carried thereby, and with which the free edge of the door engages at the end of its closing movement.

2. In a vehicle door of the class described and in combination, a door; a door post; a unitary jamb member secured to said post and toward which the free end of the door moves the same is closed, and which jainb member is provided with a plurality of recesses; and a plurality of yieldable butters assembled with and supported by said jamb member, and located one in each of said recesses, and with which buffers the free edge of the door engages at the end of its closing movement.

A unitary jamb member for use with vehicle doors, the same having a plurality of yieldable buflers assembled therewith and held in fixed relation thereto, and so arranged as to be engaged by the free edge of the door at the end of its closing move ment; and means for securing said jamb member to a door post.

4:- A unitary jamb member for use with vehicle doors, said jamb' member having a plurality of buffers assembled therewith and held in fixed relation thereto, and with which the free edge of a door engages as the same is closed, and holding means adapted to be engaged by a fastening bolt carried by the door; and means for securing said jamb member to a door post.

5. A unitary jamb member for use with vehicle doors, said member having a plu rality of recesses formed therein, and a plurality of buiiers carried by and secured to said jamb member and held in place within said recesses; and means for securing said amb member to a door post.

6. A unitary jamb member for use with vehicle doors, the same having a piurality oit recesses and a plurality of yieldable buffers located one within each of said recesses and secured to said jamb member, and so arranged as to be engagedby a door at the end of its closing movement and a hold ing member adapted to be engaged by a door bolt to thereby hold the door closed; means for holding said buffers in place within said recesses and in assembled relation with said jamb member; and means for securing said jamb member to a door post.

7. A unitary jamb member for use with vehicle doors, the same having an outer top wall, and two side walls spaced apart "from one another; portions of one otsaid side walls being cut free from the top wall and bent inward to thereby provide a recess for receiving a yieldable butter; and means for securing said jamb member to a door post.

8. A unitary jamb member "for use with vehicle doors, the same being made from sheet metal and being channel shaped in cross section, and having an end or top wall and two side walls, and an open bottom or inner side; portions of one of the said side walls being out free from one another and from the top wall and bent inward to thereby provide av recess; a yieldable buffer secured in place within said recess; and means for securing said jambmember to a door post.

9. A unitary jamb member for vehicle doors, the same being channel shaped in cross section and having an end wall, two side walls, and an open bottom; portions of one of said side walls being out free and bent inward to provide top and bottom walls for a bolt recess, and a portion of said end wall being out free and bent inward to provide a lateral wall for said recessptogether with a holding member located within said bolt recess and having projecting portions extending beneath said top and bottom walls, and which portions extend beyond said top and bottom walls and are bent inwardly into the interior of said jamb member.

10. A unitary jamb member for vehicle doors, the same being channel shaped in cross section and having end and side walls; together with guide member located within said jamb member and having a perforated portion lying substantially in the plane of the inner edges of said side walls, and another portion extending into said jamb member and terminating adjacent the front wall thereof.

11. A unitary jamb member for a vehicle door, the same being channel shaped in cross section and having an open bottom; together with a perforated guide member secured in place within said jamb member and lying substantially in the plane of the open bottom thereof.

12. A unitary jamb member for vehicle doors, the same being channel shaped in cross section and having an end wall, twoside walls, and an open bottom; portions of one of said side walls being out free and bent inward to provide top and bottom walls for a bolt recess, and a portion of said end wall being cut free and bent inward to provide a lateral wall for said recess; together with a holding member located with in said bolt recess and permanently secured to said janib member.

13. A door bumper, comprising a channel shaped member having one flange cut and bent inwardly on opposite sides of said out to provide a pair of transversely extending guides within the channel, a resilient bumper block positioned between said guides and projecting outwardly beyond the plane of said flange, a plate disposed against the in ner face of said block, and means for clamping said block between said plate and the transverse web of said member.

14. In a bumper for automobile doors, the combination of a channel shaped member formed to fit and adapted for attachment to an automobile door casing to provide the door strip therefor,said member having a portion of one flange bent inwardly to pro vide transverse guides, a resilient bumper block positioned between saidguides, and means for adjustably holding said block in position on said member.

15. A bumper for automobil doors, con prising a channel shaped member formed to lit a door casing and adapted to be attached thereto to provide the door strip, the outer flange of said strip being cut and bent inwardly to provide guides extending transversely of the channel, a resilient bumper block disposed in said channel between said guides and projecting outwardly beyond the plane of the face of said flange, and means for clamping said block in position.

In testimony whereof we affix our signatures.

MARTIN T. CODY. JOHN GRAY. KINGSTON FORBES' 

